


kisses like bruises

by lugubrious



Category: The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: Angst, Infidelity, M/M, thi sss is a bit of an experiment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-10
Updated: 2015-03-10
Packaged: 2018-03-17 04:47:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3515882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lugubrious/pseuds/lugubrious
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>misery loves company, kind of.</p>
            </blockquote>





	kisses like bruises

**Author's Note:**

> this, as i said in the tags, is an (UNEDITED) experiment. please tell me what you thought of it in the comments? what was good what was bad etc etc  
> thank you very much for reading!

Thomas’ phone buzzes again. He flips it around in his hand and reads the text on the blue-white screen.

_Miss you. Also, if I broke your oven, would you be mad? Xoxo Brenda_

He snorts, shoving the phone deep into the recesses of his trouser pocket and takes another gulp of coffee. It sears his throat on the way down.

He heaves a sigh and slides off the bar stool. A bell tinkles cheerily as he pushes the door of the coffee shop open and steps outside. He’s been here a few months already, and he knows where to go if he wants a respectable caffeine hit. Thomas hunches his shoulders slightly against the cold wind that seeps through his cotton jacket and makes his way down the street, glancing absently left and right. The ground is covered in down-trodden brown leaves and cigarette butts, people push past him with the hurriedness of not knowing exactly where you’re going but wanting to get there on time.

He stops outside his apartment building, a rickety five story establishment with deep blue carpets and a strange smell of mint about the place. He makes his way up the stairs (the elevator is, as always, Out of Order) and opens his own door wearily. His suitcase sits on the couch still, clothes strewn in its immediate vicinity and still crammed inside as he packed them a month ago. His acceptance letter to the lab sits on the kitchen counter, weighed down with a mug.

Thomas’ phone buzzes again. He sighs heavily and leaves it in his pocket. He left 34 days ago. Brenda has sent more than several hundred messages in that time. He doesn’t mean to be annoyed or ungrateful, deep down he appreciates her updates about what Gally’s broken and then re-made so it was better than the original, Minho’s ungodly stash of beer in his fridge.

The fact is that it’s late and he’s been at work all day and he wants to just _not talk to anyone for a while._

The doorbell rings. Thomas groans aloud. For a second he considers not answering the door, but then he decides that it could be his intimidating boss or his friendly lab partner coming to pay a visit and discuss sub-atomic particles so he should probably go and see who it is.

He opens the door with a sigh, but instead of Alby’s fixed scowl or Teresa’s grin he’s faced with a contemplative looking person with whom he has not been previously acquainted. He blinks.

“Hey,” says the person.

“Hi,” Thomas replies. Then he pauses. “Are you… can I help you?”

The person in front of him frowns slightly. “Sorry. Only, is your name Thomas Edison?”

“Yep.”

They smile widely. “Bloody knew it was you! I saw you down in the lobby on your way up. I live a few apartments down.”

Thomas gapes. “Newt?”

“One and only.”

“I thought you were in England?”

Newt rolls his eye. “Came back, didn’t I?”

“How come you didn’t tell me?”

Newt shrugs. “Lost your buggin’ phone number.”

“Want to come in?” Thomas asks.

Newt smiles. He traipses into Thomas’ living room and sits himself down on the couch. He has a strange presence in the room, sprawled across Thomas’ clothes and grinning easily. “You been in town long?” he asks. Thomas shakes his head.

“Can I get you anything? Tea, right?”

“I bloody hate tea,” Newt grumbles, and Thomas grins because he knew that. Newt sees the grin, and rolls his eyes. “Screw you Tommy.”

It’s nice. It’s automatic, they slide into an old routine. Except there is… friction in the air. Thomas can’t put his finger on it as he pulls out biscuits and puts them on a plate. They sit side by side and talk into the early hours of the morning. It’s only after Newt’s left, taking his golden hair and his slow laugh with him that Thomas thinks of two things. The first thing is less important that the second. He didn’t mention Brenda. Odd when you’re filling someone in on what you’ve been doing for the past few years and you don’t mention your long-term girlfriend. The second thing is that the day Newt left for England, there was a massive fight. A massive fight that everyone started and no one finished.

Thomas falls back on his bed later that night and tries to remember why there was a fight in the first place. All he can remember is a lot of yelling, maybe Newt is crying and then the next thing is he’s on a plane to England and Thomas is standing in the airport with his hands balled into fists.

No wonder Newt didn’t mention it.

//

The following morning Thomas is making his way to the stairs when someone barrels past him. He sees a flash of yellow and yells “Morning Newt!” after him. A muffled cry back shows Newt heard him, and Thomas grins. As he continues down the stairs at a much more reasonable pace, his phone goes through the familiar buzzing motions. He reaches automatically into his pocket and pulls it out, expecting to see his usual good morning text from Brenda. He does see that, but he doesn’t expect to see another notification from an unknown number. The message reads

_I forgot to ask you yesterday—how long you been in town? Need anyone to show you around? –Newt_

He replies with a _yes please oh my god_ and walks to the train station with a new spring in his step. He rolls into the lab on time to find Teresa already seated at her desk, and reading the latest reports.

“Tom,” she says, raising the mug in her hand by way of greeting.

“Teresa,” he replies, shrugging his coat off and sliding into his chair. “Anything new in there?” She shakes her head.

“Nope. But we didn’t really expect there to be, if we’re being honest.”

“Loving the positive outlook.”

“You know what I mean.” She rolls her eyes at him, and he smirks. “You seem cheerful this morning,” she notes.

“Caught up with an old friend yesterday,” he says simply.

//

“So I’ve got a whole bloody tour planned,” Newt says without preamble as they make their way down the street, “but first I wanted to bring you here. You like burgers?”

Thomas gives him a look that means _of course I like burgers you complete moron_ , and Newt grins. “Just checking,” he shrugs. He pushes open the door to a smoky looking place and Thomas breathes in the smell of beer and warm food.

“Nice.”

They seat themselves at one of the many vinyl topped tables and order, Thomas asking for a ‘classic’ burger and Newt ‘the works’.

“So what’s your job now, anyway?” Thomas asks, picking up from the previous night. Newt stretches his arms in the air and considers, his long limbs straining above his head.

“I work at a couple of places at the moment. Mainly I’m working at this bookshop a couple of blocks from here and also I’m pulling some night shifts at a bar. You said you came here on an internship, right?”

“Sort of,” Thomas nods. “I applied to this lab here where they’re working on some stuff I’m interested in and I got accepted to work here for a while.”

“How long?”

“At the moment I’m blocked in for a year but depending on how well everything goes and how much my boss likes me it could be longer. My girlfriend would hate that though,” Thomas grins. Newt, whose glass of water is halfway to his mouth, lowers the glass slowly.

“Girlfriend?”

“Yeah. Yeah! I forgot to tell you yesterday,” Thomas says, snapping his fingers. “You remember Brenda right?”

Newt nods thoughtfully. “Tall. Dark haired. Pixie cut girl with the nose stud?”

“That’s the one.”

“Nice catch,” Newt says, but his mouth moves around the words as though he’s being careful. Thomas teeters on the edge of commenting, but a waiter appears bearing two plates filled with grilled bread and meat and chips and many condiments.

“Are you ready for the best bloody burger in your life?” Newt asks, navigating his giant meal with practiced ease as Thomas flounders. Thomas hooks his fingers under the bun and lifts it into the air. He bites into it.

“Oh my god,” he sighs. He chews slowly, and swallows. “Oh my _god_.”

“Told ya.”

“Ok, I now and forever have great trust in your judgement.”

“Hopefully that trust will last us the night,” Newt smiles, and Thomas laughs. He watches Newt take a sip from his glass, and wonders comfortably what the hell had happened before Newt left for England? Why on Earth were they fighting?

He doesn’t want to bring it up, though, and spoil the evening, so he says nothing. He continues to say nothing as they make their way through the chilled streets to the bookshop where Newt works, (“Do you know why Newt runs to work every morning?” Chuck, Newt’s co-worker asks Thomas. Thomas shakes his head. “It’s because he’s late every single morning. His alarm clock is half an hour slow.”

“I have a system,” Newt protests as Thomas laughs.), then to a planetarium putting on a late night show.

“This is fucking awesome,” he says instead as he and Newt sit together underneath the projected stars in the large auditorium.

“Thought you’d like it,” Newt replies.

A voice plays on a speaker overhead, talking about the age of the stars and light years and all that incredibly interesting stuff, but Thomas has a hard time concentrating on anything because he finds the stars reflected in Newt’s dark eyes so much more mesmerising. After the presentation is over they walk back in well-worn silence, Newt’s hands deep in the pockets of his jacket, Thomas absently texting Brenda about his day.

_And guess who I ran into?_

_Who?_

_Newt!_

_Wtf???????? Tell him I say hi! And so does Minho._

“Brenda and Minho say hi,” Thomas says aloud, and Newt snorts. They reach the apartment building and make their way up the steps. “Does this place smell very strongly of--?”

“Mint?” Newt finishes. “Yes. Yes it bloody does. Always has, as far as I know.”

They pause outside Thomas’ apartment door. “Thanks for the tour,” Thomas says.

“Not a problem,” Newt shrugs. “If you’re ever in the mood for another one, don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Which door are you again?”

“107.”

“Cool.”

Newt bumps Thomas’ shoulder with his own and then waves, and makes his way down the hall. Thomas feels the buzz of electricity in his shoulder where Newt touched him, and suddenly he remembers what the fight was about.

He shuts his apartment door with a snap.

//  

Thomas texts Newt bright and early ( _since you showed me around, you want to come and check out where I work?)_ before he can talk himself out of it.

Newt texts back _yes but is it ok if I come from work? just give me the address._

Thomas does so, then makes his way to the train station. The air is crisp and refrigerated, he walks through the streets and pushes open the stainless steel rimmed door to the lab.

He spends a tense day running through the usual procedures, half expecting Newt to burst through the door at any moment. It’s only after he’s sighed deeply and relaxed into his desk chair that Teresa calls out,

“Hey Tom, who’s this?”

He springs up and sees Newt making his way through the building, smiling.

“You didn’t tell me your boyfriend was coming over,” Teresa says, shaking Newt’s hand. Thomas rolls his eyes and waves at Newt, who waves back.

“Welcome to my work. This is my lab partner Teresa.”

“Hey,” Teresa says helpfully.

“This is Newt. He’s not my boyfriend,” Thomas clarifies—and flashback to the day before Newt left for England. He and Thomas are standing in Thomas’ bedroom, talking about everything except the fact that Newt is leaving the next day.

“You know,” past Thomas says, “if you were my boyfriend I would give you a goodbye kiss.”

“Not today Tommy,” past Newt says wearily, and past Thomas—

“Tom?” Teresa asks. Her fingers are inches from his face, he hears her snap them.

“Yeah?”

“Nothing. You just spaced out for a bit.”

Newt is looking at Thomas with an expression that says were-you-remembering-what-I-thought-you-were and Thomas turns away from him very fast.

“Come on,” he says, his back to Newt, “I’ll show you around.”

A tense hour and a half later, he and Newt are standing back in the apartment building, Teresa having insisted he walk Newt home.

“So.”

“So,” Thomas agrees. “Thanks for coming.”

“Thanks for inviting me.” Newt’s voice is pleasant enough, his eyes are hard and dark.

“I have a girlfriend,” Thomas blurts out, and he’s trying to remind himself as much as Newt. Newt’s eyebrow raises slightly, he says,

“I never said you didn’t.”     

“Right,” Thomas says. “No. Yes. Ok. Bye then.”

“Bye.” Newt’s door shuts quietly and Thomas is alone in the hallway. He starts to walk away before he turns and knocks on the door sharply. It opens almost immediately, Newt is standing there as though he didn’t move an inch. Possibly Thomas steps into the apartment or Newt steps out, either way they collide messily. Thomas’ arm is wound around Newt’s neck, Newt’s eyelashes are very close and very long and his mouth is warm.

//

Thomas does not return to work. He sends Teresa a quick text saying something, he’s not exactly sure what, before he follows Newt into the apartment and they fall onto the couch. His phone buzzes in his pocket.

“Hold on,” he says, pressing his hand against Newt’s chest, and he pulls it out of his pocket. It’s not from Teresa. It’s from Brenda. Thomas pauses. Newt pauses.

The whole world pauses.        

 _It’s Brenda,_ Thomas thinks. Brenda, who wears over-large leather jackets and smiles with all her teeth and she’s never afraid to tell him exactly what she thinks of him. _But,_ he also thinks, _it’s Newt._

He gazes up at Newt, who’s chewing his lip. His hair is falling in his face, his shapeless t-shirt is bunched in Thomas’ hand and it’s so him, it’s so Newt that Thomas breaks a little bit.

“Ok,” he says. “Where were we?”

“Wait.” Newt shakes his head. “Tommy, I don’t want… Brenda…”

Thomas carefully drags a finger over the skin exposed against Newt’s t-shirt.

“I think,” he says slowly, “I’m going to go home.”

Newt doesn’t move.

“Not home as in my apartment, home as in I’ll catch a plane back. The work isn’t what I’d hoped, and I miss my mum’s cooking too much.”

Newt still says nothing. Thomas kisses his cheekbone, his neck, his jaw. 

“I’m not going to tell anyone,” he continues. “It’ll be a surprise.”

They meld together. Thomas finds Newt’s hand and clasps it. Years ago, he loved Newt. He loved him from the moment they met till the day Newt left on a plane to England and he loves him still.

Newt kisses Thomas over and over again and his kisses feel like bruises.

//

Thomas makes the arrangements over the next few days. He hands in his notice to Alby who accepts his without question. Teresa hugs him and watches as he leaves with a question in her eyes.

His suitcase is packed, his apartment is cleaned. Finally Thomas stands outside Newt’s door and knocks one last time.

Newt appears in front of him, the sun from his windows shining on his back and making him look like an illusion. A trick of the light.

“Bye,” says Thomas.

“Ok,” says Newt.  

And then he’s gone.

Thomas glances down at his phone. He sends the text he’d been writing to Brenda _I miss you_ and sets off for the airport.

          

                   

    


End file.
